This makes the 22-year-old a natural choice to be one of the public faces of an eight-week advertising campaign launched today by the Calgary Health Region to help young adults butt out.

“The anti-smoking campaign … has been a huge influence on my decision,” said Black Horse during the program’s launch at Theatre Calgary.

The program features Black Horse and other young people in a series of public service announcements, posters and transit ads that highlight the challenges of nicotine addiction.

The almost $400,000 campaign targets Aboriginals, post-secondary students and tradespeople in the 18-24 age group.

The message is timely, said Susan Mide Kiss, CHR tobacco reduction project coordinator, given a steady increase in the number of young people taking up the habit.

“Smoking rates among the young adult population are rising, about 27% in the last year, while rates in Aboriginal communities are even higher,” she said.

“We want to support young adults who want to reduce or quit tobacco use.”

Mide Kiss added the beginning yesterday of National Non-Smoking Week and Calgary’s new smoking bylaw help to stimulate awareness about the dangers of smoking, the leading cause of preventable illness and disease in the Calgary area.

The smoking bylaw, which faces a court challenge Feb. 8 by 35 local bar and restaurant owners, could actually help curtail the cravings of smokers, said Linette Soldan, community services coordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Alberta and North West Territories branch.

“Statistics show these bylaws help smokers either reduce their amount or look at quitting altogether,” she said.

Source: Calgary Sun

The prospect — an imminent reality — raises a question that smoker and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre might have enjoyed contemplating: Will France still be France without widespread smoking in public?

A new ban on smoking in French offices and other public buildings begins next month and will ensnare bars, cafes, restaurants, hotels and casinos from 2008 onward.

France is following the lead of other European countries such as Ireland, Italy or Spain. But cigarettes for many remain as much a part of the French art of living as wine and fatty foods.

“It’s very worrisome,” award-winning author and smoker Maurice Druon said of the ban. “For four centuries, tobacco was a wonderful thing. … It was said to be the ‘holy herb,’ and now it’s been decreed as horrifying.”

Source: Det News

The survey reported that in 2005, 12 per cent of current smokers age 15 years and older reported smoking in bed in the past week (about 580,000 people). Among current smokers who said they had smoked in bed in the past year, 18 per cent reported doing so every day, and another 20 per cent said it was at least a weekly habit, but not a daily one.

Twenty-four per cent of current smokers admitted to falling asleep while smoking in the previous year while in bed, on a sofa or in a chair. Ten per cent said it’s happened at least once.

The numbers are disheartening but not surprising to Canada Safety Council president Emile Therien.
“No, they’re not surprising at all. If you look at where your fire problems are, it is careless smoking in bed,” he said. Fires kill about 400 Canadians a year, according to Therien, and in his opinion too many of them are due to careless smoking.

“They’re very indifferent to a lot of fire-safety messages,” he said of the people who smoke in bed. He also noted that when people fall asleep with a lit cigarette, alcohol or other drugs may have been a factor, making the combined behaviour very dangerous.

One of the Canada Safety Council’s priorities for the summer is fire safety, and Therien wants smokers to remember the possible consequences of smoking in bed and that such behaviour is putting other people at risk.

“For the people who live in and around these people, they should take note of the fact that these people are careless smokers and they are smoking in bed,” he said. “You have all the factors there for a fire fatality or more, because if the house sets on fire the other residents are in there.”

The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey determined other habits of the approximately five million Canadians who smoke. It also asked where people picked up their smokes, and found the most common place for purchase for 59 per cent of smokers was a small grocery or corner store, followed by a gas station and then a supermarket.

Current smokers were also asked if they had made any attempt to buy cigarettes at a discount in the previous six months. Thirty-six per cent had bought a discount brand, 17 per cent bought from a First Nation’s reserve, 11 per cent went outside the province to get a deal and three per cent identified that they purchased cigarettes that may have been smuggled.

The survey also wanted to know where underage smokers were getting cigarettes, since the legal age to buy them is 19. More than half — 52 per cent — said they obtained tobacco through a friend or relative by taking, buying or being given cigarettes.

The remaining 48 per cent of smokers under age 19 said they were able to buy cigarettes on their own from some kind of retail outlet. A third bought them from a corner store.

Slightly less than half of those respondents said a store had refused to sell them cigarettes at least once in the previous year, and 59 per cent said they had been asked for identification.

Other smoking statistics:

• Nineteen per cent of Canadians, or about five million, were smokers in 2005.

• The number of teens age 15 to 19 who smoke remained unchanged from 2004 at 18 per cent.

• Daily smokers reported smoking an average of 15.7 cigarettes a day.

• More than half of all current smokers (58 per cent) reported using “light” or “mild” cigarettes.

• Ontario reported the highest percentage of people who had never smoked (59 per cent) and Quebec had the lowest (44 per cent).

• Fifteen per cent of Canadian households reported at least one person who smoked inside the home every day or almost every day.

Source: Canada.com

“This is the first time that it’s been in single digits, but there has been a steady decline since the 1980s,” Statistics Canada analyst Jason Gilmore said Tuesday.

The data were contained in the Canadian Community Health Survey, a major poll aimed at assessing the health of Canadians. The survey is conducted every two years.

It is based on the responses of about 130,000 Canadians aged 12 and over from every province and territory in the country. First Nations people living on reserves and members of the RCMP and the Armed Forces are not included in the survey.

The 2005 survey showed that 82 per cent of teens aged 12-17 reported they had never smoked cigarettes, up from 73 per cent in 2000-01.

The figures on teen smoking have been changing fast. An Ontario survey that is conducted every two years pegged the rate of teenagers in that province who smoked at 28 per cent in 1999, just six years before the latest Canadian Community Health Survey was conducted.

Social marketing consultant Francois Lagarde calls the sea-change in attitudes towards smoking in Canada “a huge success” built on decades of interventions, public policies and the growing science around the health risks of tobacco.

“As someone said, 40 years ago a father would give a smoke to a teenager to say ‘Now you’re a man.’ This is the last thing a father would think today,” says Lagarde, who also teaches social marketing at the University of Montreal.

“But that was happening one or two generations ago. It’s pretty amazing.”

The sharp declines in teen smoking bode well for the future health of today’s teenagers, suggesting as adults they may be at much lower risk than previous generations of developing a myriad of smoking-related diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Like Bever, many teens cite health consequences as a major reason why they are forsaking smoking, says Edward Adlaf, director of the Ontario Student Drug Use Survey.

Data from the Ontario survey show “quite strongly . . . that we have more and more students who perceive great risk in smoking,” says Adlaf, a research scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, which runs the Ontario survey.

“So there’s been a hardening of negative attitudes and beliefs about smoking.”

Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, credits a basket of public policy measures that have turned smoking from a mainstream habit to almost a fringe activity. Things like high taxes on cigarettes. Large and graphic health warnings on cigarette packs. Restrictions on where people can smoke and curbs on tobacco advertising.

“It is a success story. We’ve seen very substantial declines in smoking by adults and by kids,” Cunningham says.

“But we have to fight every inch of the way. And we have an enormous amount of work that remains to be done.”

The message is clearly getting through to kids like Chapman and Bever.

“Well a) it’s not good for you. It’s horrible on your health. And then b) it’s not something I want to like keep doing and then have to go to the trouble of trying to quit,” Chapman says matter-of-factly.

“And obviously my parents wouldn’t be happy.”

Bever, who has a blinding smile, has her own list of smoking turn-offs.

“It’s mainly the cancer thing. And the bad breath as well. Yellow teeth – no one wants that.”

Chapman concurs: “Girls don’t really like kissing boys who’ve just been smoking. It’s not really a turn on.”

After decades of trying, it would appear that something may have taken the “cool” out of teen smoking.

“Certainly that may well be,” Adlaf admits.

“Not for all. There will still be some experimentation. I think the real key is in ensuring adolescents don’t become regular smokers.”

That’s because the teen years have typically been the time when people are most vulnerable to the marketing allure of smoking – a vulnerability the tobacco industry deliberately exploited in its drive to safeguard profits by hooking replacements for older smokers who quit or die, industry documents that were made public in the late 1990s showed.

“Hook ‘em young, hook ‘em for life,” is the industry’s approach to children, former Big Tobacco executive Dr. Jeffrey Wigand – an industry whistleblower whose case was documented in the movie The Insider – testified in public hearings on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at the World Health Organization.

Source: CBC.ca

In its annual Canadian Community Health Survey released Tuesday, Statistics Canada revealed that the average Canadian underestimated their weight by nearly nine per cent.

Men were found on average to overestimate their height, while women were more likely to underestimate their weight, the study found

Obesity rates have remained relatively stable at 15.5 per cent, up only 0.6 per cent over 2003.

Meanwhile, although fewer young people are lighting up, many non-smokers are still being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Although some provinces have introduced public smoking bans, 15 per cent of non-smokers aged 12 and up said they were still regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in public places.

“This was down from 20 per cent in 2003, but it still represented one out of every seven non-smoking Canadians, or about 3.1 million people,” said StatsCan.

Ontario and Quebec outlawed smoking in public places on May 31, 2006.

Youth smoking

On the positive side, the Canadian Community Health Survey found that 22 per cent of the population smoked in 2005, down slightly from 23 per cent from 2003 — the last time a survey was conducted.

The biggest decline was among people aged 12 to 17. The rate of smoking in this age range dropped to 8 per cent in 2005, compared to 10 per cent in 2003.

“The youth smoking rate has declined because increasing numbers of young people never start to smoke,” StatsCan said in its brief.

CTV’s chief medical contributor Dr. Marla Shapiro said this finding is significant.

“Generally if you have not started smoking by 18, it is unusual that adults pick up the habit,” Shapiro told CTV Newsnet.

“So since we know that smoking has a long latency period in terms of diseases like emphysema, chronic obstructive lung, heard disease, it bodes well for the future that we are seeing less teens than ever smoking and taking up the habit.”

Provincially, smoking rates in 2005 were below the national average of 22 per cent in only two provinces — British Columbia (18 per cent) and Ontario (21 per cent).

Smoking rates were highest in Nunavut (53 per cent), Northwest Territories (36 per cent) and Yukon (30 per cent).

The survey of 13,000 people asked Canadians questions about several health-related topics, from how they rate their own health, to diabetes and drinking habits. The latest results are based on answers given in 2005.

Source: CTV.ca

Enclosed in a glassed-off little room in the Piazza Manna restaurant at the foot of Bay St., Davenport was bellied up to a bar and puffing contentedly on a series of cigarettes.

It’s the last birthday he’ll celebrate in such a fashion.

That’s because his chosen hangout, along with some 700 restaurants, bars, clubs, cafeterias, bingo parlours, casinos and Legion Halls across Ontario, will be forced to butt out May 31, as legislation makes almost all indoor public places no-smoking zones.

“It’s a drag,” said Davenport, whose local was one of many establishments in the GTA to install designated smoking rooms (DSRs) to evade previous municipal smoking bans over the past five years.

“I just won’t come here as much. A lot of these guys won’t.”

The Queen’s Park regulations, which take effect at midnight Tuesday, will ban smoking from almost all DSRs and will also restrict patio smoking.

In a struggle that has seen tobacco users cede ground to anti-smoking forces in Ontario, the blue-hazed DSRs were the smokers’ last public stand.

By next week, smoking in public buildings will have been virtually eliminated.

In Toronto, that means about 200 DSRs will close their doors to smoking.

The new law replaces a mishmash of provincial and local bylaw regulations that saw different smoking rules being enforced across Ontario.

In Ottawa, for example, a complete smoking ban has existed for five years. In the GTA, Toronto, York, Halton, Durham and Peel regions each allowed for various DSR provisions.

There are no maximum fines set for corporations that violate the act; individuals could face penalties of up to $5,000 for illegal smoking.

Known as the Smoke Free Ontario Act, the legislation has left many smokers and tavern owners fuming.

But Joanne DiNardo, tobacco control specialist with the Ontario Lung Association, says “there are positive studies out there that show that smokers, because of the increased difficulty of smoking the product they’re addicted to, turn to quitting because of this type of legislation.”

The act is accompanied by some $60 million in annual provincial funding for municipal enforcement efforts, smoking cessation programs and education initiatives.

Source: Toronto Star

The long-time waitress, who never smoked, is widely known for television ads in which she describes how she contracted cancer from second-hand smoke at the restaurant where she worked for 40 years. She was diagnosed in 2002, fighting the cancer with chemotherapy, radiation and steroids before it went into remission. However, she learned last August that the cancer had spread and she was losing her battle with the disease.

Crowe’s passing comes just one week before the Smoke Free Ontario Act comes into effect in Ontario.

The act will ban any smoking in any enclosed public places and will add restrictions to the promotion, handling and display of cigarettes in stores.

Jim Watson, the Liberal MPP for Ottawa-West-Nepean, was a frequent customer at the restaurant where Crowe worked and called her the “matriarch of the anti-smoking movement.”

He said on Monday that Crowe told him she really wanted to live to see the anti-smoking legislation come into effect.

“It’s very sad that she’s not going to be here to see it, but she should be very happy that because of her influence, Ontarians will be able to breathe easier as a result of the legislation on May 31,” said Watson.

Watson said Crowe was an unlikely activist.

“She fell into this anti-smoking passion because she experienced first-hand what so many people have suffered over the years.

“She was a very thoughtful, compassionate individual who was not fancy or glib. She was very sincere in her approach and she just wanted to ensure that no one else had to suffer like she had to suffer as a result of exposure to second-hand smoke.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty presented Crowe with an award named in her honour last December.

The Heather Crowe Award will recognize the efforts of individuals and organizations in promoting a smoke-free Ontario.

Source: Canada.com

Although the number of smokers in the province has dropped substantially over the past decade, the reputation persists and it’s with more than a little trepidation that Quebec counts down the days to a full-fledged ban on smoking in public places.

“This radical thing, it ain’t going to work. We’re not sheep, we don’t have to follow every little rule that comes out,” said Tony, who didn’t want to give his last name as stood outside a shop in downtown Montreal having a cigarette on Sunday.

“People come here because they know they can have a good time. Like in Europe, you can have your cigarette, you can have your beer, you can smoke anywhere you want. It’s fantastic.”

At the stroke of midnight marking May 31, smoking will be prohibited in restaurants, bars, private clubs, bingo halls and casinos along with all other facilities open to the public.

Bill 112 also forbids smokers from lighting up within nine metres of any doorway leading to a health or social services institution, college, university or child-care facility.

Businesses that fail to butt out face fines up to $10,000 for repeat offences. Individual smokers who flout the ban could be fined $87 for a first offence and up to $600 for repeated violations.

Health Minister Philippe Couillard, a doctor, said it’s a matter of public health.

“Remember that death by cancer in Quebec is higher than in the rest of Canada, in large part because we have a very high rate of lung cancer which is directly linked to tobacco,” Couillard told reporters last week.

“Our tobacco use rate is the highest in Canada, so the link is very clear.”

Actually, from 1995 to 2001, 26.1 per cent of Quebec smokers kicked the habit – more than in any other province.

According to Statistics Canada, 22 per cent of Quebecers smoked in 2004, less than New Brunswick at 24 per cent and on par with Newfoundland and Labrador.

Fifteen years ago, the province was “a smoker’s paradise,” said Jarrett Rudy, a historian at McGill University and author of The Freedom to Smoke: Tobacco Consumption and Identity.

“There was a feeling for a while that Quebec would never change, that people would continue smoking and no one would tell them differently.”

But even in freedom-loving Quebec, the tobacco tide has turned, he said.

“People are choosing their right to health over their right to smoke,” Rudy said.

Jean Lefebvre, vice-president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservice Association in Quebec, said the ban will have a huge impact on the industry.

Industry groups estimate sales could drop by 15 to 20 per cent but Lefebvre conceded Quebec is part of a worldwide trend, he said.

“We fought for a couple of years but now basically it comes to an end,” he said. “We’ll have to cope with it.”

Source: Canada.com

The new legislation will ban smoking in all public indoor places, including bars and restaurants. Some critics say the province has not hired enough inspectors to ensure compliance with the new law, but Couillard says that’s not true.

“The municipal police can also be used if the municipalities give them the authority,” he said Wednesday. “They are under their jurisdiction. They can certainly work in collaboration with the inspectors.

“And again, on this question of the tobacco law, such a majority of citizens want to exercise the right to be in a smoke-free environment that I see a positive implementation of the law,” Couillard said.

One in four Quebec adults still smoking

The province’s smoking rate has been in steady decline, according to Health Canada figures.

However, Quebec still has one of the highest smoking rates in Canada, with 23 per cent of all adults lighting up at least occasionally. The rate is 26 per cent for those aged 15 to 19, and soars to 38 per cent among Quebecers aged 20 to 24.

Louis Gauvin of the Quebec coalition for tobacco control says that last group was in its young teens when the Quebec government slashed cigarette taxes about a decade ago.

Source: CBC

There is more information on how to Quit or Stop Smoking in Canada, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Quebec here.

While the vote would need support from university administration for the ban to be passed, 60 per cent of the undergraduate student voters voted to ban students from smoking outside on campus property, except for around student residences, by July 1.

Even those smokers would have to butt out by July 1, 2008, if the U of A administration decides to support and implement the ban.

“I just think it’s ridiculous,” said Bryan Buffi, a 21-year-old science student who voted against the ban. “It’s against people’s rights. Smoking is already banned from inside bars and restaurants. Outdoors is the last bit we have left to smoke.”

Students also voted in favour of prohibiting the students’ union from continuing to sell chewing tobacco, cigarettes and other tobacco products in their student-owned businesses.

Three independent convenience stores in Hub Mall could continue to sell cigarettes. The students’ union, which could disregard or overturn the vote, says it would lose up to $50,000 with the move — $36,000 in tobacco sales and the rest from smokers’ other purchases.

One student said he wouldn’t have a problem if he had to walk to a public sidewalk on the edge of campus to light up. “I’ll probably slow down on smoking,” said Alan Hildebrandt, 29, who didn’t vote. “Everyone knows smoking isn’t good for you.”

But Krista Williams and David Wilkie, who voted against the ban, said when they smoke outside, the smoke dissipates and hardly bothers non-smokers. They said smoke breaks between classes are important, especially during high-stress exam times.

“It’s going to suck,” said Wilkie, 22, who had just finished writing an oceanography exam. Williams estimates she smokes seven to eight cigarettes on campus each day. “I shouldn’t be forced to quit until I’m ready.”

Shereen Kangarloo, the student who led the tobacco-free team, said she’s excited that voters supported her idea.

Source: Canda.com

I’ve collected some statistics on smoking and smoking related deaths in Canada.

As you can see below, Tobacco is the greatest risk of death in Canada by quite a considerable amount.

The Percentage of smokers aged 15 years and older has been going down gradually over the years as shown below.

As you can see in 2002 it’s around 20% where as just 35 years ago it was close to 50%!

The number of deaths however has increased.

As you can see it’s a scary figure now, this might be due to better recording facilities in modern times, more accurate statistics or due to less pure cigarettes with all the chemicals and addictive junk manufacturers put into cigarettes nowdays making them more addictive AND more harmful.

The deaths peaked around 1995 and have started to decline again slightly.

As for resources you can check out:

Qutting Smoking with the Canadian Cancer Society
Quit Smoking Info from Health Canada

There are Toll Free numbers you can call for each province here, includes ( Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut).